Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

33 reviews

leonormsousa's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

TRIGGER WARNINGS 

violence, child abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, forced institutionalization, murder, slavery, trafficking, racism, homophobia, misogyny, sexism, panic attacks/disorders, blood, injury/injury detail, medical content, chronic illness, vomit, alcohol

REPRESENTATION 

 

bisexual MC, mixed-race (Black) gay LI with epilepsy 

 

REVIEW 

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue was a refreshing, fun and surprising read. I was expecting just a light-hearted queer historical romance, but I got, on top of that, an adventurous book with more depth than I imagined.

Switching things up and starting with the ending, let me just say: I loved the author’s note at the end of the book. The author explains some of her research and clarifies what parts of the book are very much inspired by what is actually known about eighteenth-century Europe (the setting of the book). I thought it was such a powerful way to help the reader learn from the story and turn the novel into more than just a cute romance. 

Among the topics that are covered throughout the book (and some in the author’s note), we have queerness culture, race relations, epilepsy, misogyny, child abuse, politics and piracy; all really important and/or really interesting subjects that add layers to this great YA romance. 

As for the main plot, it is not your typical (historical) romance. It is filled with adventure and mystery and it even has a fantastical side to it, which was something that I completely loved. It all provided the perfect set-up for me to see the characters grow (and grow on me), especially Monty, while keeping me invested in the story. 

I’m not a big fan of friends to lovers, but this book was proof that when something is well done, it doesn’t matter if you’re not a big fan of the genre or the trope: it can still get you! Seeing Monty’s and Percy’s relationship grow as they learn how to love was just marvellous. For me, it was just a shame that we had to see a bit of the miscommunication trope (not my favourite), although I do think that it came to show the extra lack of confidence that can be felt in expressing your feelings in the case of queer relationships. 

While it didn’t completely blow me away, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue was a solid 4-stars that found its way to my heart. And since Felicity was my favourite character, I’m very much curious to see how the author has approached misogyny and asexuality in the second book of the series, where she takes the lead. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Vomit, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Trafficking, Alcohol, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Blood, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

a_bloom's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The writing is absolutely PHENOMENAL and so freaky funny. It's also heart reaching, but you can always kinda see it coming. It's technically a long book but something you could get through in a couple of days. 


<Spoiler>It also talks about a lot of interesting topics that were seen as taboo (although some of them aren't brought to a whole lot of detail considering the whole book is told from the perspective of a traumatized white teen boy who's an Earls son... But he slowly starts to learn, grow, and mature as he keeps ALMOST DYING.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Biphobia, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Outing, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Violence, and Vomit

yashe96's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Blood and Biphobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death

gemstonejasper's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I read this for the first time in 2022. I really enjoyed it and read it in one day. I decided to reread it, this time taking just over a week. My rating hasn't changed. I loved this book. I loved Monty and Percy and Felicity. It was so good. I listened to the audiobook and really liked it.

There were times when, along with Percy and Felicity, I got really annoyed or even angry with Monty. But I think that was the point. Monty is a flawed character and throughout the book he grows and develops. I think it's actually cool that the author took the risk of starting out with a main character that I didn't actually like as a person. I thought he was funny and I felt empathy for him. But I thought he was a brat. I think a lot of books choose to introduce their characters with more palatable flaws out of fear that the reader won't like them. But the author was able to blend his charisma and flaws together. He was fun to read about, despite his flaws and I was constantly cheering for him to grow. Overall, I would highly recommend this book, as well as the audiobook.

When Percy and Monty are at the festival and Monty is super drunk, I got so angry! Percy asked him about running away together. Monty loved Percy and I think at this point, he knew he wanted Percy more than he wanted anything else. But I think he was scared and very drunk. I was so sad when he said all the wrong things to Percy. I was sad for Percy having to hear all the wrong things. I was sad for Monty knowing he said the wrong things, but not knowing how to fix it. I just wanted them to be happy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Violence, Homophobia, Racism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Child abuse, Ableism, Alcohol, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Addiction, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Classism

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

emliza's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Gun violence, Vomit, Violence, Physical abuse, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Misogyny

Minor: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

b3ck's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

xrvnge's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Biphobia, Child abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Racism

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, and Forced institutionalization

super_panda's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a very fun read. The characters' struggles with homophobia, racism, ableism and sexism seem realistic, as does their resolution. I feel like the historical aspect was well researched. I could do without ever reading another reference to 'kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending pottery with gold', though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, and Gun violence

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Alcoholism, Addiction, Ableism, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Slavery, Biphobia, Colonisation, and Death of parent

imrereads's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There are definitely some high point in this book, but overwhelmingly I found it to be... meh. My biggest problem was that, most of the time, I didn't like Monty. I think I would have enjoyed the story more from a third person perspective, or from somebody else's point of view. I also felt like there was just too much going on, hardly any space to just sit in a moment. This meant that most of the scenes I enjoyed the most were cut off too soon for my taste. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Ableism, Blood, Child abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Biphobia

swampmonster's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Gun violence